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Milwaukee’s Education Ecosystem
Milwaukee’s New Vision of Secondary Education emerges from our unique education reform history and existing array of educational options. There are now more ways to start new schools in Milwaukee than anywhere else in the nation. Consequently, public education in Milwaukee has become a living, dynamic, evolving enterprise. It has expanded to include a diverse “ecosystem” with many different “species” of schools.
The entire ecosystem is pictured in the table below.
| | Species of School | Description |
|---|
||Inside the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) ||Innovative Option Schools ||Mission-driven schools created by MPS staff where all teachers are employed by MPS ||
| | Instrumentality Charter Schools | Mission-driven schools supported by Wisconsin’s Charter School Statute where all staff are employed by MPS |
| In Partnership with MPS | Non-Instrumentality Charter Schools | Charter schools where all staff are employed by the school or the non-profit agency that operates the school |
| | Partnership Schools | Schools supported by the Children At-Risk Program |
| | Contract Schools | Schools created through Board contracts to fill specific District needs |
| Outside MPS | Non-MPS Charter Schools | Charter schools sponsored by the City of Milwaukee, UWM, or MATC |
| | Private Schools | Schools that may be supported by the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program |
Our largest options-driven reform effort, the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), is the oldest and largest educational voucher program for low-income families in the country. It provides school vouchers to 15,035 students in 118 schools.
In addition to the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), three other entities — University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and the City of Milwaukee — are authorized to establish charter schools, making it possible for 35 different charter schools to serve students whose families reside in the city. MPS also takes advantage of specific state legislation to enroll students in “partnership schools” that serve “at-risk” adolescents through contractual collaborations between MPS and community-based organizations, and maintains additional contracts with independent schools to fill targeted district needs.
Enrollments in the various options from the 2002–03 school year are represented in the table below:
| | Species of Schools | No. of Schools | Estimated Enrollment | Percent Enrollment |
|---|
| Inside MPS | Traditional Elementry and Secondary Schools | 168 | 87,000 | 60% |
| | Innovative Option Schools | 10 | 3,700 | 2.8% |
| | Alternative Schools | 14 | 1,400 | 1.0% |
| | Instrumentality Charter Schools | 12 | 7,000 | 5.3% |
| In Partnership with MPS | Non-Instrumentality Charter Schools | 9 | 1,700 | 1.3% |
| | Partnership Schools | 19 | 1,700 | 1.3% |
| | Contract Schools | 12 | 1,000 | 0.7% |
| Outside MPS | Non-MPS Charter Schools | 10 | 3,500 | 2.6% |
| | Private Schools | 160 | 25,000 | 19.0% |
| Totals | | 414 | 132,000 | 100.0% |
Milwaukee’s New Vision of Public Education holds that all of the children enrolled in all varieties of school that receive public funding are part of the public education “eco-system.” All of these children deserve quality opportunities in schools that are accountable for educational outcomes and governed by sound business practices and fiscal responsibility.
